Mary Tyler Moore nearly blind from diabetes

Mary Tyler Moore is nearly blind from her long fight with diabetes, according to friends of the TV icon.

Moore, 77, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 33. She's mostly stayed out of the public eye the past two years while dealing with the disease, according to the New York Post.

"Her eyesight is what the big problem is right now," friend and former "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" co-star Betty White told Closer Weekly magazine.

"(Moore is now) almost beyond the point (of being able to see)."

She has managed to stay in touch with old friends.

"I don't see her often, but I talk to her a bunch," said Dick Van Dyke, who became famous playing Moore's husband on "The Dick Van Dyke Show." "She hasn't been too well. She's really having a battle with it, I'm sorry to say."

Valerie Harper, another co-star of Moore's from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," said Moore's diabetes has been brutal.

"(The diabetes) does ravage her body, but she stays healthy," said Harper, who called Moore a "wonderful friend," who sounded great the last time they talked.

Another friend of Moore's said the actress is in good spirits.

"Mary is not a woe-is-me woman," the friend told Closer Weekly. "She has her bad days emotionally, but she just tries to find enjoyment in each and every day."

Struggling with her vision isn't new for Moore. In 1997, she was scheduled to be mistress of ceremonies at the Directors Guild of America awards show in New York, but had to bow out at the last minute. A guild official said she went "temporarily blind."